Peter Eicher
Makin’ copies! How many copies of data are you storing?
There's a very old IT problem that's gaining renewed attention lately: The problem of keeping too many copies of data. The analyst firm IDC has quantified the problem and come up with some rather startling statistics: More than...
To reduce or dedupe, that is the big data question
Reducing data at the source is the smart way to do backup. That is the conclusion I came to in my last post, If files were bricks, you'd change your backup strategy. But I also left off by saying “there are technologically...
If files were bricks, you'd change your backup strategy
If somebody asked you to do the exact same work over and over again, would you think that was a smart thing to do? Of course not. But that’s exactly what many of us are doing in our backup environments. There are a lot of...
Will we ever use flash drives for enterprise backup?
We are living in a time of technological ferment, if you will, and there are multiple IT approaches in the works ─ all with the mission of dealing with the ‘data deluge.’ Obviously, as data grows, there’s more to back up. And the...
Data protection and data growth -- within budget. Possible?
A few months ago the folks at Wikibon published a survey around a number of different IT topics. One of the questions centered around the biggest IT challenges that organizations were facing. The top three challenges were: #1 –...
Data protection services -- Make sure you get what you pay for
For those readers growing up in the 1970s, you are probably familiar with the commercials for Fram oil filters. For those who don’t know, they featured a grease covered mechanic talking about how changing your oil filter for a few...
Complexity: How solutions end up as problems
Last time out I wrote about how snapshots have a visibility problem, meaning it’s difficult if not impossible to tell what’s inside them without having to look into each one. Yet snapshots are a very effective way of capturing...
Snapshots have a visibility problem
There’s a fantastic bakery in my neighborhood where everything is terrific. Whether you’re getting bread or cakes or cookies, they are the best in town. Unfortunately, there’s one problem. The problem is that nothing is labeled....
Our civilization depends on electricity ... and the repair crews who keep it flowing
I was going to continue writing about snapshots, but a hurricane got in the way. Instead, I wanted to share some thoughts about Hurricane Sandy. I was in the firing line, living on Long Island (not near the water). But I can’t...
How big is your big data?
I mentioned last time that I would be talking about snapshots and data protection. And so I shall! But snapshots cover a lot of ground, and I prefer to focus on particular aspects of them, rather than painting a high-level story...
When it comes to data protection, anything goes
When I first started in the data protection space -- way back when Windows 95 was released, the first Toy Story movie hit the silver screen, and a series of caves was discovered in France that years later would lead to a...